Our client is a large, national, operationally intensive organisation operating within a highly regulated and unionised environment. With a significant workforce footprint across Australia, the business requires sophisticated industrial relations leadership to manage legal risk, enterprise bargaining and strategic workplace reform.
The Opportunity:
An opportunity has arisen for a legally qualified senior industrial relations practitioner to step into a national leadership role with a strong legal mandate. This is not a traditional HR advisory role — it is a strategic legal position embedded within the business, responsible for providing expert advice on complex industrial matters with significant legal and commercial implications.
Reporting into senior leadership, the role will lead national industrial strategy, oversee complex bargaining frameworks, manage disputation and litigation risk, and represent the organisation before tribunals where required.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide strategic legal advice across all industrial relations matters, including those with significant legal exposure
- Lead national enterprise bargaining strategy and complex negotiations
- Advise on and manage litigation, disputes and tribunal matters, including appearances and briefing external counsel
- Quantify industrial and legal risk and provide commercially sound recommendations to Executive stakeholders
- Oversee payroll and industrial instrument compliance, mitigating underpayment exposure
- Drive consistency and uplift of IR frameworks, templates and governance systems nationally
- Lead and develop a national IR function within a complex, operational environment
- Engage with unions, regulators and external legal advisers at senior levels
- Admitted solicitor with 5+ years’ post-admission experience in employment and industrial relations law
- Significant experience in enterprise bargaining, industrial litigation and strategic IR advisory
- Demonstrated ability to assess and quantify legal risk within an operational business context
- Strong commercial mindset with experience advising senior executives
- Comfortable operating in highly unionised and operationally complex environments
- Prior in-house or secondment experience highly regarded
This is a rare opportunity to step into a national industrial leadership role with genuine legal depth and commercial impact. The position offers high visibility, strategic influence and the ability to shape industrial strategy within a complex and evolving regulatory landscape.
How to apply:
Adam Kumaraswamy
e: akumaraswamy@sharpandcarter.com.au
m: 0414223338
